First fibre broadband arrives in Rothesay
More than 2,700 homes and businesses in the Isle of Bute’s main town, and also in neighbouring village Ardbeg, can now order fibre based broadband thanks to the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project.
It’s the first step for the roll-out of better broadband in Rothesay, one of Scotland’s best-loved tourist destinations. More coverage in the town – and for additional villages across the island – will follow.
The £146m project is being led in the region by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), with work on the ground being carried out by Openreach, the local network division of private sector partner BT. Funding is coming from the Scottish Government and the UK Government as well as HIE and BT.
Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, said: “We are changing the shape of access to better broadband for our rural and island communities. The Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband project is making high speed services available to thousands of people every week in places which would not have been reached through the market.
“It’s fantastic to see the first homes and businesses now able to order in Rothesay. It’s another step in building the infrastructure which will see us fulfil the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver world class connectivity in Scotland by 2020.”
As is the case for the roll-out in larger rural towns across the UK, services will be available in stages. The access is being provided through seven green fibre cabinets, six in Rothesay and one in Ardbeg. These have been built next to existing telecoms cabinets.
HIE’s Director of Digital, Stuart Robertson, highlighted that where new services are available customers won’t be automatically upgraded:“Fibre is an entirely different service so if it’s available you have to order. You can look on our online checker www.hie.co.uk/whereandwhen and then speak to your internet service provider to get connected.”
Further coverage will follow. He added: “Openreach engineers will be back in the area soon to roll out services to more people. This will include creating brand new networks to connect hundreds of premises which currently get their telecoms direct from the exchange, known as ‘Exchange Only’ lines. This includes many premises in the town centre.”
It takes a little longer to deliver to Exchange Only lines as it is a more complicated process, involving re-routing lines and building new cabinets. It is hoped the first of these upgrades will come through during autumn this year.
Additional roll-out is planned during 2015 for the north of Bute, including at Craigmore where first services will be available soon. Roll-out will continue into 2016 at Kilchattan Bay.
BT Scotland director Brendan Dick welcomed the news: “As part of BT’s most complex subsea fibre deployment in UK waters, two subsea links between Bute and Cowal and between Bute and Cumbrae have helped to bring fibre broadband to Rothesay. Engineers have laid more than 250 miles of subsea cable around Scotland’s shores which, along with the newly installed street cabinets and underground cable around Rothesay, adds to the the fibre jigsaw in the area.
“While the steamships brought economic prosperity to places like Bute, fibre broadband will equally bring another revolution in working life to Argyll and Bute, with access to the latest technologies such as video conferencing, faster file sharing and cloud-based services. Our engineers will continue to use the latest technologies to spread the benefits of fibre broadband across Scotland.”
Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “This is fantastic news for the 2,700 homes and businesses in Rothesay who can now access superfast speeds now that our rollout has reached the Isle of Bute. The UK Government is investing £120m to rollout superfast broadband across Scotland and we are on track to cover 95 per cent of the UK by 2017.”
Note:
1These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
Due to the current network topography, and the economics of deployment, it is likely that some premises within selected exchange areas will not initially be able to access fibre-based broadband. Openreach is considering alternative solutions for these locations, which may also benefit from the local partnership activity outlined above.
ENDS
For further information about this news release please contact Ian Arnot in the BT Scotland press office on 0131 448 4606 or Lesley Gallagher at HIE on 01463 244211. All BT news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre or follow us on Twitter @BTScotlandNews
Background
The Digital Scotland rollout consists of two projects – one covering the Highlands and Islands area and the other covering the rest of Scotland. Funding partners include the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the UK Government through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), local authorities and the European Regional Development Fund as well as BT.
The Rest of Scotland project is being supported through £157.6million public funding including £50 million from BDUK and BT’s private investment of £106.7million. The public funding includes funding from all 27 local authorities in the project area and additional funding from 14 local authorities who are investing around £51 million to increase coverage, meet local priorities and address the digital divide in their areas. Coupled with the investment in the Highlands and Islands region announced earlier in the year, it brings the total investment in fibre broadband in Scotland to more than £410 million.
The Rest of Scotland project area includes the following local authority areas: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, parts of Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North Ayrshire (apart from the Islands), North Lanarkshire, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.
The Highlands and Islands broadband project is being led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and includes the following local authority areas: Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, Eilean Siar (Western Isles), parts of Argyll and Bute and part of North Ayrshire (Islands).
